Automatic brake.



ALW-LIANDBEH AUTOM 3 APPLICATION FILED HAEL 31, 1511..

A. 0. ALEXANDER.

AUTOMATIC BRAKE.

APPLICATION :ILBI) MAR. 1.011

Patenaei J 9, 1912.

2SHEETSSHEET 2,

ALISON c. ALEXANDER, or PENACOOK, NEW nmrsnmn AUTOMATIC BRAKE.

To all whom it may concern:

I Be it known that 1', AN-SON.G. ALEXANDER, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Pen acook, county of Merrimack,' and. State of New Hampshire, have invented an Improvement in Automatic Brakes, of which the following description in connection with the accompanying drawing, is a specificati0n, like characters on the drawing representing like parts.

'This invention relates to an automatic brake, and is particularly designed for use lin connection with automobiles, but the'invention is not restricted to that use and is applicable to the automatic braking or control of any rotating member.

' The object of the invention is to secure a device'which will act quickly upon the attlainment of a predetermined speed and which willexert a powerful force immediately to-secure the immediate retardation or stopping of the rotating member.

The invention is also directed to securing a construction of automatic brakeiwlneh shall be of simple construzztion, strong in its parts. not-liable to get out of order; and

capable of withstanding the effects of fro quent and sudden action. I

Thenatu're of the invention will more fully appearffrom the accompanying de-- scription and drawings and will be par ticularly pointed out inthe appended claims. The drawings represent a preferred form of device embodying the invention and shown inconnectionwith the driving axle of .an' automobile. Y i 7 21h the drawings, Figure l. is a-view in perspectiv eof aportion of the rear axle casing 'of' an. automobile with a dcviec'mnbodying the invention supported thereon; Fig. 2 5m view. in longitudinal vertical central cross section of the main features shown in FigH'La'i-nd-in addition of a pinion and The device herein illustrated is shown as particularly adapted in its construction and arrangement for use as a brake u fbn aii automobile.- The rear axle of such a vehicle is shown in the lower portion of Fig. 1. and the device is shown as supported therefrom.

,In theforni illustrated this support is indi .Qated at. A as a sleeve clamped on the rear aixle casing and including upwardly projecting pillars or posts in which is supported in suitable bhiii 'in rs an auxiliary shaft B. This shaft Bea-connected to the rear axle l i I Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed March 31, 1911. Serial No. 618,173.

Patented Jan. 9,1912.

by means-of the pinion {land the gear V so that'the shaft-B is driven from the rear axle. The purpose of. the auxiliary shaft Bis to secure as the direct actuator for the brake. a shattwhich is running at a much higher rate of speed than the rear axle of the vehicle. It is evident, however. that .this arrangement of auxil ary shaft not essential to the invention and that'it is not necessary for the braking mechanism to be removed from the shaft Whose rotation it is to control. I

.l't is preferable and essential for certain uses that the brake shall be capable of being thrown into and out of connection with the rotary member,- and for that purpose a' clutch mechanism to be described is provided. A clutch mechanism of the form illustrated requires the shaft B to be formed in two parts, and it is so illustrated, these parts being separately rotatable and being separated by the roller bearing rolls'Q. and thrust bearing ll. A drum (7 is fixedly inc-milled on one section of the shaft B, as the right hand section. and is formed on it's left hand face with a. trusto-coniral surface to form a clutch part. The other, or left iHUHlSGClTiUI], of the shaft 15 supports longitudinally slidahle thereon, but noii-rotatahis with respect thereto. a coiipe-rating friistweonieal clutch member K. This clutch meinher K has a shouldered sleeve surrounding the shaft 13. In an annular groove formed on the sleeve between its shoulder and a ring N screw-threaded thereon is mounted -a.eollar M. hell crank lever ll fulcrunied to any fixed part of the niaidiineis connected at one end to the collar M and at its other end to an operating rod T so that upon the reciprocation cf the operating rod '1 the clutch. member K {may be slid on thcshat't'B' and into and out of engagement; with the clutch "fare of the drum 0, thus connecting and disconnecting the drum '0 to the left hand section of the shaft l which carried the pinion U. An auxiliary drum 1 is mounted on theshaftB to 1'0 tate freely with respect thereto, and. in the form illustrated this aukiliary drum F is joiirnaied on a sleeve projecting from the drum C around the .shalit-B. The drum. C

is surromided with a band friction ln'ahe J consisiing of :1 st rip of steel, and it will be seen that upon drawing the ends of the strip I together the friction between the band or strip and the periphery of the drum will the friction band operated and begin to revolve;

operation of the clamping band J on the periphery of the drum'D is 'securedby the partial rotation of the auxiliary drum F and for that purpose suitable connections are rovided between t e auxiliarydrum F and These connections are so constructed and-arranged as to multiply greatly the force exerted by therotation of the auxiliary drum F so that when this force is applied to the.clamping friction band J a comparativelyenor'mous force is secured and the braking action made quickly and completely effective.

In the form shown a link H extends from an eccentric pivot I on the drum F and --is ivotally connected at its other end at H toa.bell crank H? mounted in any. suitable ad jacent support. This bell crank lever extends at one end up through an apertured bracket -H secured to any suitable adjacent support and is connected at its upper end to a lever H fulcrumed at H' and having arms H engaging the ends of the bandor strip J. j A spring H surrounds the upper end of the bell crank lever H and abuts against the bracket H and a collar H carried by it-self so that the action of this spring H? is to raise the lever H and release the friction band from the periphery of the drum C, while the opposite action ofthe lever H is to bring the ends of the band'J together, thus causing .great friction. The rotary movement of the auxiliary drum F is secured automatically from the drum C. Levers D are fulcrumed at G to the drum C and carry pivoted on their shorter arms segmental brake shoes E adapted to engage the periphery iof the auxiliary drum F, while their longer arms are heavily weighted and preferably cbnnected by adjustable springs to the drum. Immediately the drum C starts to revolve the centrifugal force exerted tends to throw outwardly the longer arms of the lovers D, thus bringing the brake shoes into contact. with'the auxiliary. drum F and causing it to start and rotate with the drum C, but immediately the aux iliary drum F starts to rotate the friction band J stops the rotation of the drum 0 throughthe intermediate connections already described.

In the case of an automobile the clutch for connecting the drum C to the shaft B will be used, and whenever it was desired to stop the automobile the clutchmwould be thereupon the drum C would The levers D would be arranged by reason of the weights andsprings and their general "construction '-to bring the brake shocsf-E into contact with the auxiliary drum F upon the exertion of;

a centrifugal foree caused by a speed of retation predetermined,as.the one at which the automobile should be stopped.- It the "upon the periphery CllllZCh is left in action, or a clutch isnot used, then the shaft or rotary member will be automatically :prevented from attaining a speed of rotation greater than a predetermined maximum.

Having fully described my invention-what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: Y

1. An automatic brake comprising a retating member, a rotarily mounted main drum, means for connecting said member and said main drum to cause themto rotate together, ,an auxiliary drum mounted. to rotate concentrically with and independenly of said main drum, a brake shoe carried by the main drum and in cooperative relation with the auxiliary drum, centrifugally-controlled means carried by said main drum to bring the brake shoe against the auxiliary drum-upon the rotation of the main drum at a certain speed, a friction brake in cooperative relation with the main drum, and connections between said auxiliary drum and said friction brake whereby rotary movement (if the former sets the latter.

2. An automatic brake comprising a rotary main drum,"a-n au'xiliary drum mounted to rotate concentrically with and independently of said main drum, a brake shoe carried by the main drum and adapted to bear upon the periphery of the auxiliary drum, centrifugally-controlled means carried by, said main drum to operate the brake shoe upon a predetermined speed of rotation of the main drum, a friction brake in cooperative relation with the main drum, and connections between said auxiliary drum and said friction brake whereby rotary'movement of the-former sets the latter.

3. An automatic brake comprising a rotary'main drum, an auxiliary drum mounted to rotate com-.cutrically with. and independently of said main drum, a brake shoe carried by the main of the auxiliary drum, cent-rifugally-cont-rolled' means carried. by said main drum to operate the brake shoe upona predetermined speed ofrotation'of the main drum, a friction brakein cooper-- ative relation with the main drum,.and connections including multiplying levers between said auxiliary drum and said friction brake whereby rotary movement of the for mer sets the latter.

4. An automatic-brake comprising a rotary main drum, an auxiliary drum mounted to rotate concentrically with and independently of said main drum, on the side of said main drum, a brake shoe carried by the shorter arm of said lever and in cooperative.relation with the periphery a lever fulcrumed' drum and adapted to bear 4 emma sE;

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